When Does a New Inning Start?

Play doesn't start until the ump says "play", but I know our LL (Babe Ruth affiliated) would start the next inning in a situation like you described. League rules are different for each location though. You may want to clarify with whom ever is in charge.

Sounds like he had a date.

An Inning does not begin until the pitcher is on the rubber with the ball, The catcher is in his stance and the batter is in the box ready to hit. The umpire will then signal play.....until the ball is put in play the inning can not officially be considered started...

but that is to start an inning of play...your question involves the start of an inning for a time limit game.... Since there are no time limits recognized for a baseball game in the official rules of baseball, what you have is a local rule...and as such you should look to your local Board of Directors for guidance....

So the answer is:

NO, there is no official rule on "time limit" games in the Official Rules of Baseball since they do not recognize time limits...

YES, there are time limit game rules that vary from youth league to youth league....

NO, most umpires could care less about time limits, if the local rule is written correctly, there should never be a time when an umpire should care...


We see many of these in summer tournaments where a game going over 2 hours will throw the whole day off schedule....

Your rule seems to be written correctly...it states that no new inning should be started if it can not be completed within the time limit for the game...

From your post you have 1:50 to complete 6 innings....which is about 25 minutes an inning....12 minutes per side.....if you started at 6PM.....and the next game starts at 8PM....and were in the middle of an inning at 7:50, most likely you could finish that inning before the start of the next game...

But if you start a new inning at 7:50, it would unreasonable to believe that a whole inning (both sides) can be completed in 10 minutes...

Attempting to do that would be even worse than getting started.......better to stop early at a natural stopping point than to get another full inning started and have to stop at the drop dead starting time of the next game with the Home team not getting to bat....and the score reverting to the end of the last completed inning anyway...

Hope this helps... please check with your league administrators...

Well, it's officially started when we point to the pitcher and say "play". However, your description sounded a little bush league unless it was a blowout. I generally will allow the game to progress by encouraging the players to hustle out on the field. Keep the game moving. I try and use FED rules for all games (pitchers technically get only 1 minute or 5 pitches to warm up, 8 if new). If the game is lollygaging along then I would shut the game down at the appropriate time.....in other words, by the book.

quote:

Sounds like he had a date.

Why would you blame an umpire for a league rule?....we dont make local league rules, we only enforce the ones they give us...

Understand that We are also liable if we violate the rules given to us....

If a player gets hurt in an inning that was not permitted to be played according to the league rules, the umpire can be held liable for his injury....

In most youth ball, we umpires are there for a minimum of 4-5 innings (mercy rule) or whatever many it takes.....I've done 14 innings until I called it for darkness.....at 8:45 PM....

but even then, someone wanted to know if "we had somewhere to go".......

ridiculous....

quote:

what you have is a local rule

Our local rule was that an inning that was started before the time limit was reached could be completed. The new inning started (for time purposes) as soon as the third out of the previous inning was recorded. This prevented any delaying tactics....

sorry guys - my husband is an umpire - from time to time we do see umpires who are in a hurry. We always say they must have a date.

Like I also said, local rule vary.

The only time I've ever had to worry about this is with time limits in tournaments. Most, if not all, that I've been involved with have said the inning starts when the last out is recorded in the previous inning.

I always assumed this was so the team who's winning, couldn't drag their feet and take 15 minutes to get in and out.

In all my years of youth league involvement I have never seen an ump take liberty with ball game time.

Sure, I have seen 1 maybe 2 minute disagreements, but I have seen more coaches having kids tie shoes, trips to the mound etc.

Umps by and large in my experience totally live up to the code of their responsibility.

Coaches however employ stalling antics regularly.

In our area "point and call play" signals new inning.

Each league should document their rule on this topic.

If they don't and someone complains about a situation like this to the board, they either don't write a rule (let the umpire decide) or write a rule, which the umpire should then enforce.

In club ball, each governing body had their rules. Usually OBR with three pages of exceptions (mostly courtesy runners, run rules, how many batters can bat, time limits, how many games you get suspended if you get kicked out, how many games you play before they keep your check despite rain outs, how much you have to pay to get in, etc.). Some would say, a new inning starts when the third out is made, others wouldn't.

I can't ever remeber getting a game called because time expired between the third out and the next inning starting.

The league does have a rule on this...it just isn't terribly clear.

The rule is that no new inning can start after 1 hour and 50 minutes...however, they didn't document what constitutes the starting of a new inning (the third out of the previous inning, or the ump saying "Play.")....so this leaves it up to the discretion of the umpire and is not consistently interpreted.

Buzzard-
You bring up a good point. Couple of comments/suggestions:
-For several years, I co-sponsored tournaments. We had a "no new inning rule" and a "drop dead" rule. For the no new inning rule, we always wrote the local/tourney rule as stating that a new inning started the moment the final out of the previous inning was recorded/incurred. (i.e. we tried to be specific.
-You may want to go to your local Board of Directors and request they clarify the intent of the rule and amend it accordingly.
-For what its worth when I coached (seems like ages ago!!!), if I know a league or tournament had a time limit, I would always ask the umpire in the pre-game conference (with opposing coach present) his interpretation of the time limit rule. While I may disagree with his interpretation, at least I would know what to expect BEFORE the game started instead of in the "heat of battle".

jbbaseball - great points.

What I was saying about documenting the rule was to DOCUMENT THE RULE. For example, "No new inning shall start after 1:50. The end of an inning shall be defined as the moment the third out is recorded for the home team."

...and for the record, I hate drop dead rules. Either finish it or don't start it. Too many bad things happen with a drop dead rule. Players asked to strike out, pitchers told to walk every hitter until time expires. To me, this is 'travesty of the game' and should be outlawed. If the inning starts, the inning should finish, IMHO.

Depends on how the league rules are written but for us the next inning begins the moment the 3rd out is recorded.

Get this guys..I was coaching my 13 yr old team this past friday and in our league there is a 2 hour limit..the game was a great game and our team was leading 7-6 at the end of 6 innings..that inning ended at 7:29pm and the game started at 5:30pm when the first pitch was thrown.for some reason the umpires started a 7th inning when there was only 1 minute left in the two hours..actually the 7th inning did not start until 7:35pm..i protested but they let play begin anyway..Very frustrated because we had the lead and let it slip away in the inning that i thought should have never been started..

quote:

Originally posted by dankuhl2000:
Get this guys..I was coaching my 13 yr old team this past friday and in our league there is a 2 hour limit..the game was a great game and our team was leading 7-6 at the end of 6 innings..that inning ended at 7:29pm and the game started at 5:30pm when the first pitch was thrown.for some reason the umpires started a 7th inning when there was only 1 minute left in the two hours..actually the 7th inning did not start until 7:35pm..i protested but they let play begin anyway..Very frustrated because we had the lead and let it slip away in the inning that i thought should have never been started..

If the local rule was no new inning starts after 2 hours and that the inning begins at the third out of the previous inning, as most such rules that I've run into work, the umpires were correct in continuing the game.

.

This...



...doesn't belong anywhere near a baseball field.




.

We once had an ump that set a timer for two hours, hit start when the batter entered the box. Hung it on the backstop fence behind him. When the timer went off, he announced that the time limit had been reached, the inning would finish out and no new inning would begin.

The timer on the fence was really tough for anyone to argue with. From the beginning of the game parents, coaches, scorekeepers… all saw it, watched it, and heard it go off two hours later.

One of the best ways I have seen an UMP handle time limit games.

But Jimmy. to start a new inning with less than 1 minute left in the time limit, seems a bit reaching to me..the other teams coach pushed the umpire so to speak to start the inning..we have had other games that umpires ended the game with more than 10 minutes left sighting the new inning could be completed within time limit..

quote:

Originally posted by dankuhl2000:
But Jimmy. to start a new inning with less than 1 minute left in the time limit, seems a bit reaching to me.

Okay the rule says two hours, but 1:59 is okay with you. How about 1:58? 1:57? 1:56?

This is the problem with bending the rule. Which coach do we listen to? It's best to follow the rule exactly as written, then if a protest comes up you don't have to justify not following the rules.

quote:

Originally posted by dankuhl2000:
But Jimmy. to start a new inning with less than 1 minute left in the time limit, seems a bit reaching to me..the other teams coach pushed the umpire so to speak to start the inning..we have had other games that umpires ended the game with more than 10 minutes left sighting the new inning could be completed within time limit..

Depends how it is worded. There is a difference between "No new inning can start after the time limit" and "If you cant finish an inning in the time left" The second one is vague and you cant be sure how long an inning will take.

I know it seems bad that they started an inning with 1 minute left and then to top it off, you lose. If you coach long enough, there will be a time that you are in the other team's position. And you will be thankful the umpire gave you an extra inning.

Around here, we have umps with the timer and if the third out has been made, and the timer hasnt gone off, we continue. There have been games that the timer has gone off while a pitcher has been warming up in the top half of an inning and we play. I am sure in my coaching past, I have lost and won games in that last inning. Probably lost more then won.

my point is there needs to be a agreement as to when games are complete and when a new inning can be started!Period..its not hard to figure out.

quote:

Originally posted by dankuhl2000:
my point is there needs to be a agreement as to when games are complete and when a new inning can be started!Period..its not hard to figure out.

That's what the ground rules are for. My sticking point was always when the clock started. Is it first pitch? Is it when we walk away from ground rules? That way I know when the time expires. Around here, it was pretty much a given that if the third out was made in the bottom of an inning before the time expired, you would play the next inning.

Things like what happened to you have a way of evening out. You will benefit from this one of these days.

quote:

Originally posted by dankuhl2000:
Get this guys..I was coaching my 13 yr old team this past friday and in our league there is a 2 hour limit..the game was a great game and our team was leading 7-6 at the end of 6 innings..that inning ended at 7:29pm and the game started at 5:30pm when the first pitch was thrown.for some reason the umpires started a 7th inning when there was only 1 minute left in the two hours..actually the 7th inning did not start until 7:35pm..i protested but they let play begin anyway..Very frustrated because we had the lead and let it slip away in the inning that i thought should have never been started..

While I get the need for time restraints, theumpire did the right thing and started the inning. As long as it was within two hours, who cares if it was 1:59. Bottom line is to try and finish the game, not to try and secure a win based on a local time rule. Isn't it better to play the game and give these kids the playing time? Some of you coaches kill me. Some are so desperate for a won that they'll do delay tactics just to avoid playing an inning to secure that precious win. Any time a game is cut short, it's a disservice to the kids. Those lost innings could be used to get in players who haven't come off the bench yet or something like that. Some of these coaches need to take a step back and realize why they're coaching. Same goes for the umps who are in a hurry to get to the gin mill. If you dOnt have the time to coach and umpire a kids baseball game, then go do something else

quote:

Originally posted by Hawk19:
Our local rule was that an inning that was started before the time limit was reached could be completed. The new inning started (for time purposes) as soon as the third out of the previous inning was recorded. This prevented any delaying tactics....

This is the only way the time limit rule can work. The need to shout "play" can't possibly work, because of delay tactics, etc.

quote:

"If you cant finish an inning in the time left"

This will create more problems than it's worth. Every game in the league would generate controversy. Just move the time limit back, if necessary.

In this neck of the woods the umps declare time of start when the home team pitcher takes his first warmup pitch. drives me crazy. i think it should be when the actual pitch gets delivered.

and i agree for tourney play you've got to use 'new inning begins when 3rd out is made' or you will have a bunch of stalling (you will still have some due to knuckleheads.. but you minimize it with that tourney rule)

quote:

Originally posted by dankuhl2000:
But Jimmy. to start a new inning with less than 1 minute left in the time limit, seems a bit reaching to me..the other teams coach pushed the umpire so to speak to start the inning..we have had other games that umpires ended the game with more than 10 minutes left sighting the new inning could be completed within time limit..

If the rule is no inning starts after two hours, the inning starts at 1:59. I've had teams sprint on the field, and the pitcher say he's ready after three warmups to get the inning in. If killing the end of the inning mattered to you, you had plenty of time and tactics available to do so the previous inning.